The invention generally relates to holders for medical tubing, such as vacuum tubes, electrical cords, and the like, which are often employed in surgical operations.
Throughout a hospital, tubing and cords of various types are used in health care operations and particularly during surgery. Often there is a need to be able to temporarily anchor such tubing. After being deposited, the tubing must be easily retrievable for further use during the particular operation and, in addition, there is a need to improve the ability of the physician or nurse involved in the operation to control and handle such tubing. Thus, it is often advantageous that the tubing be prevented from sliding while deposited. It is also advantageous to be able to control the amount of holding power of the anchoring device.
For example, vacuum tubes, which are used to remove accumulating blood or other fluids during surgery, must be readily accessible throughout the operation and yet not be an obstruction. Nasal gastric tubes are inserted into the patient's nostril and are used to siphon fluids from the patient's stomach. There is a need to be able to anchor and adequately control the nasal gastric tubing which extends from the patient's nostrils. If a cautery is employed during an operation, there is a need to be able to anchor and manipulate the cautery cord which extends from the instrument. A further example of tubes which require manipulation or anchoring are the tubes which extend from intravenous bottles that are used to provide nourishment to the patient.
One known prior device has a square support pad with front and back faces. An adhesive is applied to the back surface so that the pad can be affixed to a substrate, such as a surgical drape. The front or upper surface of the pad is made of felt. One portion of the support pad is a rectangular strip which can be wound around a tube. The end of the strip or pad has a Velcro.RTM. pad which is attached to the felt surface, thereby holding the tube in place. The pad may be wound around the tube so as to contact the tube with a portion of the adhesive side or only the felt side of the strip, thereby determining whether the tube is permitted to slide within the strip while being held. Another device is composed of a strip of felt having a roughened Velcro.RTM. flap attached at one end of the strip. Tubing is placed between the felt strip and flap and is secured by pushing the flap down into the felt to effect the Velcro.RTM. lock.
Such devices have several problems since the Velcro.RTM. has a tendency to snag the gloves used by the nurses and surgeons. In addition, the second device has no ability to anchor tubing without permitting it to slide. Moreover, with the first device, in order to affix a tube without permitting slide, the operator must work with a sticky adhesive that can snare the operator's gloves and the like. Finally, these devices do not allow the operator to control the amount of holding power applied to the tubing.
There is, therefore, a need for an effective device which will easily hold various sizes of medical tubing and yet prevent it from sliding while being held.